It’s officially shipping: Resolume Avenue 3 is a new live audiovisual performance tool for Mac and Windows, a complete, ground-up successor to the legendary PC-only VJ app Resolume.

In fact, Resolume Avenue 3 demonstrates why the term “VJ” should become a relic of the past. Resolume is no more a “VJ” app than Ableton Live is exclusively a “DJ” app. It’s really about taking audiovisual elements and performing with them live. The cornerstone of the design is an audiovisual clip metaphor — in fact, one not unlike the one used for sound in Live, down to audio effects and time controls traditionally associated with live music. Drop in sound, visual, or audiovisual clips, composite them in layers, and add effects. You can even add standard audio effects plug-ins and manipulate almost everything in relation to tempo or sound response. As in other recent visual performance apps, while there are remnants of a deck+mixer concept, the metaphor is really multi-layered compositing.

Resolume Avenue 3 is really a huge leap forward from the “legacy” Resolume line in every way, in terms of GPU performance, MIDI and OpenSoundControl, user interface, cross-platform compatibility, and audio savvy. But you will find some familiar elements if you’re a devotee of Resolume. The manual still fits in an incredibly compact space. The simplified compositing structure people loved in Resolume 2 is retained. What was always appealing about that to me was that you feel in Resolume like you can focus on a few performance elements and develop your chops around those. And lastly, as opposed to the semi-modular, open-ended philosophy of a tool like VDMX, Resolume is, as always, more about a stripped-down structure that works in a variety of situations. Other apps try that, but often come across feeling like oversimplified VJ mixers; Resolume is a unique animal. I’m glad we have both alternative paths, and I do really think they’re different – hope to show more of that off soon.

Clip triggering is dead-simple, but the addition of audio and powerful effects possibilities mean you could really do a lot with this.